A Little Push
by dpluver
Summary: Everyone in Amity Park felt sorry for Maddie Fenton after she lost her family in that accident. But after her severe psychotic breakdown & later denial of their deaths, nobody goes near Fenton Works anymore. Except, perhaps, a lonely ghost boy…?
1. My Wonderful Family

**An idea that I simply couldn't get out of my head. This will be 4-5 chapters long in total. Kind of strange at the beginning...**

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><p>"<em>Madness, as you know, is like gravity. All it takes is a little push." <em>-The Joker, _The Dark Knight_

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><p>Dinner, as usual, was burning. The washing machine was also looking ready to explode, and the dishwasher was making that weird ticking noise again.<p>

Such was the daily routine for Maddie Fenton. She had already tried asking Jack or Danny for help without avail, and she knew Jazz was too busy studying psychological nonsense in her room to be bothered with menial chores. Maddie loved her family, she truly did, but their incompetence when it came to simple things such as changing the filter for the dryer or remembering to add soap to the dishwasher was thoroughly disheartening for this hard-working mom.

"Dinner's ready!" Maddie called out as she hastily threw on a pair of old oven mitts to retrieve the blackened casserole. The oven was quite filthy, now that she saw it from this close, but she would worry about that later. The table had been haphazardly set for four, and the kids could pour their own drinks because tonight was Wine Wednesday for Maddie and her husband. The entrée itself smelled like burning rubber from an old car tire, but if they didn't partake, then they could go hungry. Maddie simply hated how all those hours she put in to making this a perfect meal managed to go to waste within the two minute delay of forgetting about the broken oven timer.

"Jazz, this means you too!" Maddie hollered from the bottom of the stairs. "No more skipping meals!"

Going back into the kitchen, Maddie sat at her usual spot at the table and waited for her kids to show up. Jack grinned at her in eager anticipation of his wife's cooking, despite his inability to lose weight like he had been promising to do for years. Maddie had even put him on a special diet recently, and he still remained bloated as ever.

"Jack," Maddie sighed and let her head collapse into her hands. "We really need to do something about the kids. I call them down every night, and it takes them forever to show up! Do you think they're ignoring me?"

Jack said nothing, but continued to stare at the casserole. Maddie peeked through her fingers and glared at him for his indifference. She couldn't stay mad at him for long, however. She didn't marry Jack for his overabundance of sensitivity, after all. Sighing once more, she poured herself a glass of wine. Upon noticing that Jack was still ignoring her, Maddie got to her feet and downed the glass like it was a shot before pouring herself another.

"DANNY! JAZZ! I said get in here, the food is getting cold!"

At that very moment, Danny and Jazz entered the kitchen.

"Our apologies, Mother," the said in unison. "Is there anything we can do for you?"

Maddie sighed for what felt like the thousandth time that day. "No, just sit down and eat before the food gets cold."

As if on cue, Danny and Jazz continued forward and paused when they reached their own respective seats. While she waited for her kids to get settled in, Maddie downed another glass of wine and poured herself her third.

"How was school Danny?" Maddie asked once everyone was situated. The casserole was somewhat cold as she plopped three spoonfuls on everyone's plate, but nobody was complaining. Yet.

"It was wonderful, Mother, how was your day?"

"Oh, the usual…cooking, cleaning after your father…what about you, Jazz?"

"My day was also wonderful, Mother. But nothing is better than having dinner with my loving family."

Maddie grinned as she took a few bites of the chilled food and another swig of wine. "That's good to hear, sweetie. And to keep things fair, I figure I might as well ask, Jack, how was your day?"

"This is Auto-Jack saying, where's the ghost?"

"Ghost hunting? Again? I thought we shut the portal, hun?"

Jack didn't respond.

Crying out in frustration, Maddie downed the rest of her wine and poured herself glass #4 whilst glaring at the quiet figures around her. Her family could be so amazing, yet so infuriating at times. And from the looks of it, Danny and Jazz weren't touching their food! After all her hard work, she thought she could get a little appreciation around here, but it seemed like that would be impossible today.

"Danny, you're on dishes duty. Jack, stay away from the portal."

With that, Maddie abruptly got to her feet and stumbled towards the stairs. After seeing her family ignore her efforts to prepare a nice, healthy meal for them, she simply didn't want to be around them right now. Losing her temper would only hurt her in the long run, so being alone was the best thing for her at the moment.

As she staggered up the stairs with the intent of locking herself in her room, Maddie accidentally knocked one of the photo frames off of the wall adjacent to the staircase. The glass shattered on impact, but the photograph itself remained unharmed.

Muttering incoherently, she bent down to pick it up. It was a family portrait.

Instead of hanging it back up on the wall, Maddie pocketed the picture and tossed the frame into the pile of glass shards that hopefully one of the kids would clean up later.

Somehow, she made it to the top of the stairs, but the wine was definitely affecting her vision and vertigo by now. She swayed precariously from her position on the ledge, overlooking the darkened living room. She strained her ears for signs of a conversation, but couldn't hear any voices below.

_Good_, she thought. _That'll teach them to appreciate me._

Once in her room, she collapsed onto the king bed she shared with Jack. She felt light-headed and warm, but it wasn't a bad feeling. After years of sobriety, it was nice to indulge in a little wine every once in a while, especially now that her kids were teenagers and didn't seem to mind if Mom got tipsy every Wednesday night.

The picture crinkled in her pocket as she rolled over on it. Her hands were shaking, but even so, they were able to retrieve it and bring it closer to her face for further examination.

It had been taken back when Danny was a freshman at Casper High. Back then, he was always wearing those white shirts with the weird red circle in the middle; nowadays it was the same white but the only red had been relegated to the collar section. A much more fashionable choice, Maddie had assured him.

Strangely, Jazz and him were much paler than Maddie remembered, and…since when did Danny have blue eyes? Her children had inherited beautiful green eyes; Maddie guessed this was from Jack's mom's side of the family. The blue tinge must have been from the sun's glare or something.

Maddie didn't know how long she lay here, just staring at the photo of her family, but when the clock chimed twelve times and Jack still hadn't come to bed, she was starting to get annoyed again. The buzz had since worn off, and a feeling of inexplicable sadness came over her. She didn't know what had caused this, but she shrugged it off as an after-effect of the wine.

_He must be in the lab,_ she thought angrily. _I swear, tomorrow, I'm shutting that portal down for good!_

Having come to a suitable resolution to her problem, Maddie threw the covers over her head and drifted off to sleep.

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><p><strong>A good portion of this story is inspired by <em>Shutter Island<em>. Basically, after a horrific accident in which her husband and children are killed, Maddie develops a psychotic coping mechanism in which she pretends they're still alive. Next chapter we'll see her situation from an outsider's perspective (to get a full grasp on the strangeness of it all). Hope you enjoyed this little introduction, and feel free to leave any comments or questions you might have :)**


	2. Welcome Back to Fenton Works

**Thanks for the comments on chapter one. I understand there was some confusion, so hopefully this chapter will clear some things up (a little mystery never hurt anybody). Enjoy~**

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><p>"<em>I redressed the Tuck-Bot Nine Thousand to make it look and act like you. They'll never know the difference."<em> –Jazz Fenton, _Phantom Planet_

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><p>Today was the anniversary of the accident. Not the portal accident, though that was the reason why he was still here to witness the anniversary of the deaths of Jack and Jazz Fenton. Oh, and Danny <em>Fenton<em>, too.

The thought still sent shivers down his spine.

It had been, more or less, painless. He didn't even remember it, but he had heard enough from the other ghosts to put together what had happened.

Fenton Works had been burglarized. Non-ghostly crime was somewhat common in Amity Park, so this shouldn't have come as a surprise, but why on earth a criminal would choose the Fenton residence was beyond comprehension. Anyone who lived in Amity Park knew they had next to nothing and basically lived off private research grants for their ghost weapons development. They owned no gold, no valuable silverware, and no fine art to send to the black market.

But not only did the burglar break in, they took the extra precaution of removing witnesses by shooting each of the family members while they slept. Having stolen whatever they came for, the intruder quickly departed scratch-free.

It wasn't until two days later—when Maddie Fenton came home from the Ecto Expo—that the bodies of this cold-blooded murder scene were discovered.

There had been a thorough police investigation underway for nearly twelve months now, and even with the gathered evidence, they were still no closer to discovering the Fentons' murderer than they were the day it all began.

For the past twelve months, Danny had been mindlessly wandering through the Ghost Zone, seeking a way out. He didn't realize it while he was alive, but the Ghost Zone truly was the flip side of the humans' world in terms of size. It was simply _huge._

And without the help of the Infi-map—he had yet to find the Far Frozen—as well as his own, crudely-drawn map—it was still in his bedside drawer—Danny was lost, to say the least. Upon waking up in a section of the Ghost Zone called "Square One," Danny realized at once what had happened. After hearing rumors that he wasn't the only one killed, he spent an indeterminate amount of time—there were no clocks or calendars in this part of the Ghoze Zone—grieving for his family. It was the very thing he was supposed to prevent...the very thing that would supposedly push him over the edge into the evil-driven madness that was his future self...

But when he heard a rumor that his mom was still alive...

That's when Danny started looking for a way out.

Sure, it would take some explaining, but he was sure that having one family member back was at least better than none. With a heavy heart, Danny had two objectives in mind: to find a way back to the human world and to stay on the lookout for ghost versions of his dad or sister.

He was especially devastated for Jazz. She had been one week away from starting her first semester at Harvard. The Fenton family name had been redeemed because of her, and she had the brightest future out of anyone to have ever graduated from Casper High.

It was amazing how it could all be taken away in the span of less than one second with nothing but a tiny metal bullet.

Danny had found an electronic calendar in the real world items realm of the Ghost Zone after many weeks of searching—forty-two, according to the calendar. It was the first sign of something familiar from the outside world, and despite how insignificant it seemed, it meant the world to a boy whose life had just come crashing down on his shoulders.

The worst part of it all was that nobody had been there to comfort him during the grieving process. Nobody. Ghosts would pass him by, and he was pretty sure that humans had never lurked this far into the Ghost Zone before. Only when he learned that Maddie Fenton was still alive did he get a small spark of comfort. Returning to her as Phantom would be a bittersweet experience, but seeing his mom again would be worth the initial explanatory process.

Today was apparently his lucky day: after months of searching, he found his portal. Not just any portal, unfortunately; the one of his old archenemy. Of _course_.

With a tremendous sigh, Danny shoved the blockade aside and jumped through the swirling haze of green.

Landing back in the human world wasn't as strange as he had been expecting. He felt like himself, even if he _knew_ the circumstances had drastically changed since his last time in the real world. While he himself felt fine, however, everything else around him didn't match up to the Vlad he knew.

Aside from the portal, the lab was empty. No more cupboards, examination tables, test tubes, weapons lying around...nothing. The place had been cleared out.

With a sense of foreboding starting to creep up on him, Danny proceeded up the stairs. Once he entered the library, he gasped: the place was a mess. Books had been thrown off the shelves, pages carelessly ripped out, and entire bookshelves knocked over by what appeared to be ecto-blasts.

Danny didn't dare call out for the man, but as it turned out, he didn't need to: in the next room over, he was sitting in an old chair, facing the dying flames in the fireplace. This room, much like the lab, was completely empty with the exception of the fireplace, the chair, and its occupant. The way the dying embers reflected the man's shadow on the adjacent wall was startling, but having nothing to fear as a full-ghost, Danny continued forward.

"Could that possibly be who I think it is?" Vlad whispered when Danny's foot accidentally stepped on a loose floorboard. He didn't turn around to see if his deduction was correct; he was waiting for Danny to respond.

"Maybe," Danny said before adding, "It's been a while, Plasmius."

"So it has," the man sighed, still refusing to look at Danny. "You finally found your way out of the Ghost Zone, I take it?"

"Courtesy of your portal, yeah," Danny responded. He didn't exactly know where this conversation was going. Would Plasmius really be stupid enough to take him on now that he was no longer half-ghost? And why wouldn't the man turn around to face him? An uncomfortable silence lingered in the air for several minutes. Danny figured that Vlad didn't quite know what to say to someone who had died; it had always been a debateable subject between them as they shared the same dilemma of living on the fence between life and death. While his human half was no longer with them, _Danny_ was still here. Did that make a difference?

"I'm looking for my mom," Danny murmured. "Unless you already have her in your clutches now that your dream of offing her husband has come true."

"Do you honestly think I'm capable of murder, dear boy?"

"I'm not sure," he answered truthfully. "I'm not even sure if the rumors are true. From I heard…w-we're all...gone…e-except her."

"You've been accurately informed."

"Where is she?" he demanded, expecting his mom to suddenly appear at the door any minute now.

"Don't go home, Daniel," Vlad said in a strangled voice. "Do yourself a favor. Don't go home."

"Why not?" Danny asked, feeling more frustrated with every passing second. Vlad was acting in the most bizarre manner; even several minutes into this conversation, he had yet to look at Danny.

"Don't go home," he repeated.

Infuriated, Danny decided he would go home anyway. Vlad had never been one to look out for Danny's best interests, after all, and if his mom was truly alive as Vlad claimed she was, then going home was the best option he had. Tucker and Sam could come later, but right now, Danny needed his mother more than anything else in the world.

Without saying goodbye, Danny turned intangible and flew away. Vlad remained, stoic as ever, staring into the fireplace as his former comrade departed.

Not wanting to attract attention on his first day back in the real world, Danny chose to remain invisible on his flight path toward Fenton Works. It was mid-morning or so, and the birds were whistling in anticipation of springtime, but it was hard to appreciate the warm weather and cheerful animal life after that disturbing scene with Vlad back there.

Danny tried to ignore it as he landed on his doorstop, but the ominous feeling was returning. It wasn't unexpected, given that he was about to enter the same place his human half was killed in exactly one year ago, but with the promise of his mom waiting for him, Danny took in a deep breath and knocked on the door.

He waited for a minute. Then two. Then three and four. After the five minute mark passed, Danny turned intangible and walked inside anyway. It was somewhat surprising to see just how little had changed. But while everything _looked_ the same, the feeling of the place was completely different. The warm family atmosphere had given way to the smell of death and desolation that lingered behind in wake of the family tragedy. A broken frame that Danny knew one held an old family picture was lying on the stairs amongst a plethora of shattered glass.

Just like in Vlad's mansion, Danny didn't call out for his mom, knowing this would probably terrify her. The total silence hanging over the place was more disturbing than anything he witnessed at Vlad's place, making him grateful for the protection of ghost powers.

Hearing a faint beeping noise coming from the kitchen, Danny decided to try here first.

He regretted this decision the instant he entered the room. Awaiting him was quite possibly the creepiest scene he had ever witnessed in his life (or after-life, for that matter).

Sitting at the table were his old robots—the Tuck-Bot and Goth-Bot—both haphazardly dressed in his and Jazz's old clothes and wearing wigs that resembled their hair. Auto-Jack was situated on the left with a never-dying grin on his face as he stared unblinkingly off into space.

On the table were the place settings set for three people, plates with cold, uneaten casserole left on them and spoiled milk left untouched in the glasses.

In his horror, Danny barely noticed the robots' eerie green eyes blink as they turned around to face their new visitor.

"Hello Danny Phantom," they said in unison. "Welcome back to Fenton Works."

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><p><strong>...<strong>

**This last scene reminds me of the Saw clown. Scared the crap outta me, he did. **

**Anyway, I'm off to finish up some of my other stories, but feel free to leave comments/questions/constructive criticism/etc. :)**


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